


From the Ashes

by R_E_R6



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Derek is 23, Derek is a Good Alpha, Derek is a Softie, Fire, Good Peter, Living Together, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pack Family, Pack Feels, Protective Derek, Rich Derek, Scott is a Good Friend, Slow Build, Stiles Stilinski's Pillow, Stiles is 17, Stiles is Derek's Favorite, Underage - Freeform, with the Sheriff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:24:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4278450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_E_R6/pseuds/R_E_R6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a fire occurs at the Stilinski home Derek offers the two Stilinksis a place to stay.</p>
<p>While Derek tries to ignore his pining for Stiles, Stiles' new prospective of Derek causes him to evaluate his feelings for the werewolf.</p>
<p>Sheriff Stiinski is way past worrying for Stiles and just wishes they'd hurry up a stop all the pining. Seriously, they just need to hurry up and do something because he is sick of all the 'looks'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Through the Flames

The alarm rung in Stiles' ears, shocking him out of his slumber and alerting him to the persistent pounding of his father's fist on his bedroom door. His skin was cool; an effect created by the sheen of sweat being coupled with cool air from the open window.

"-ire, Stiles get out"

The teenager was delerious, his mind increasingly foggy as smoke continued to wade into the room. Stiles blinked his weary eyes at his tired observation. Smoke?

"Stiles! The house is on fire you have to get up!"

Fire. That explains the sweat. Fire. Holy shit the house is on fire! As realisation struck, Stiles leapt out of bed and towards the sound of his father's increasingly panicked voice. "I'm coming, let's get out of here" Stiles yelled, reaching for the door.

He grabbed the gold handle only to pull back, reflexively flinching at the burn of the heated metal. More prepared, he reached for the metal again and forced himself to grip against the sting of the burn long enough to fling open the door. He'd just made it out and turned into the hall towards his father when the fire swept from the other side of the doorway and towards the air of the open window. The teen's brown eyes widened against both the unwelcome heat of the clambering fire and the realisation that he had almost gotten himself burned by opening a pathway allowing the fire to find the oxygen it seeks so desperately. As the raging flames diverted into the boy's room, lighting the room and showing Stiles just how much smoke he was sleeping with the Sheriff dragged him away and down the hallway towards the stairs. 

Both figures remained hunched as if weighted down by the smoke which curled around them as they stumbled down the staircase. Sirens could just be heard over the roaring breath of the flames which devoured the walls around them, stalking them down towards the safety of outside. The two stumbled through the house to the door, the shroud of smoke leading to what Stiles suspected was a broken picture frame. The teen halted at the thought and leant against the hall cabinet. He could hear his father calling through the smoke, having realised his son was no longer holding on to be led through the darkness but Stiles wasn't listening as he reached along the heating walls. Guided by the flashing lights as they appeared through the window of the living room Stiles stumbled through the smoke, considerably less thick in the living room than the hallway, as he made his way towards the cabinet in the far corner of the room. 

The smoke was quickly growing thicker as Stiles searched, his vision blurred from walking through the smoking house, until he felt the cool leather and tooth plastic beneath his fingers. His long fingers on his right hand continued downwards as he pulled the items out with his left to feel for the intricately carved metal which coated the book he was looking for. Locating the item, Stiles removed it before grabbing as many others as he could as the flames began lapping at the door frame, threatening their entrance. Stiles ran to the door, avoiding the flames and colliding with a firefighter as he made his hasty exit, the firefighter guiding him the rest of the way through the smoke all while he clutched the hard edges of the items to his chest. 

"My dad. Is he out?" Stiles asked as the firefighter stopped and began patting at Stiles clothes with his forearm. It was only then Stiles began to feel the fire flicking his hip and the sting of the fresh burns forming. Looking down Stiles watched the last of the flames flickering under the fire fighters arm leaving behind bare welted skin where his shirt had burnt away.

"You need to get that burn looked at. Go to the medics" The young firefighter instructed as he pushed him out of the door. Stiles winced as the cool air froze him in place, intensifying the burn of his wound but still he searched for his father in the the crowd of people surrounding his childhood home. All of a sudden Stiles was grabbed in shivering arms and being pulled towards an ambulance.

"Don't you even do that to me again son I swear to God. You scared the hell outta me Stiles" 

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief Stiles sagged into his father's arms allowing his tired body to be all but hauled to an awaiting ambulance.

Stiles was sat huddled in an emergency blanket with cooling gel and a bandage on his hip when the pack showed up. Scott was first, living the closest, followed by Derek, Erica and Isaac who had been at Derek's new apartment helping him renovate when they had heard the sirens and listened in, overhearing the address be related to the fire fighters as Derek's new apartment was on the outskirts of town a few minutes from the firehouse. Stiles had thought that Derek chose the too-large accommodation for the benefit of being near the fire station as opposed to the quiet little bungalow he was also considering. Boyd also came jogging to the scene a few minutes later having received a call from a frantic Erica. Allison pulled up a few minutes later, Lydia in tow and joined the others huddled around Stiles. The Sheriff had gone to talk to a few deputies and the fire department to find more information on how the fire started and get more information on the condition of the house and so Isaac freely reached for Stiles, placing his hand on his hip and relaxing as he watched the black lines crawl up his own arms. Scott had come prepared and was fussing with a juice box to make Stiles drink it as well as handing Stiles some Adderall and telling him "I kept some at my house in case you ever forgot them", to which Stiles almost teared up at his friends cuteness.

"Are you okay though, really?" Erica asks after the fire was out and she was no longer trying to lighten the mood with lighthearted jokes about the human's lack of superpowers.

"Yeah, other than the burn on my hip and the slight sting I took to my hand I'm fine. The alarms woke me up before the fire had spread too much so I never really had to pass it until I was leaving the living room." As Stiles said this his hand instinctively gravitated towards the stack of books and frames he'd collected from the house as if to check they were still there and relaxed when his hand found cooled metal. Noticing the movement Scott and Derek both looked at the stack, Scott's face seemed to melt into an expression of both sadness and adoration as Derek's eyebrows scrunched together. Stifles couldn't help but think they both looked like cute little puppies despite the different expressions. 

Looking past Derek's shoulder Stiles's face fell as he saw his father lean back against a police cruiser, his shoulders sagging as he spoke privately with the fire chief. Noticing the look Allison flickered her eyes over to the Sheriff before turning back to Stiles with a reassuring smile "I'm sure it's nothing to worry too much about, you both survived and you're alright so that's all that matters right now. Whatever you're worrying about can wait for now. Let your dad deal with this" Stiles nodded at her words before they really sunk in. The fact that his dad and he could have died in that fire and had survived enters his mind and his eyes flicker to Derek on instinct. Derek held his gaze for a few seconds before Looking away, his gaze gravitating away from any indication of the fire, the house, the trucks. Stiles immediately felt confused as to why Derek had come to the scene of a fire as he knew the older man was still troubled by the events of his teenage years. Stiles flickered his eyes to his dad's drooping face before addressing his friends. 

"Hey, could you guys please take these over to my dad and check on him please?", gesturing to the pile beside him.

The pack seemed to presume he wanted time to process as they all grabbed something from the pile and left Stiles alone with Derek.

"You didn't have to come here you know. I would've understood"

Derek looked up and Stiles could see the brief pain that filtered across his face before he looked down again. "Its fine. I wanted make sure you're okay. You're pack."

Stifles smiled slightly at the older man before shivering from the cold, the pack no longer serving as a warm wall of bodies to shelter him from the cold. Without saying anything Derek moved closer and turned, blocking the path of the wind.

"Thanks. What a night to be dragged into the cold right? Kinda reminds me of the drive home after holding your ass up in a pool for two hours"

Derek smirked a little at the comment before stating "That's what you get for driving that ancient metal box around instead of a real car"

"At least I don't get pulled over every time I leave my house because my car looks suspicious"

"I think that's more to do with the fact that they know the car is mine and not the car itself"

"Oh please, that car could make my dad look like a bad boy car racer"

Derek raised his eyes at the comment and Stiles flushed, something he will forever claim was from the cold, and looked away. "Nothing I say can be used against me right now, I've been through a trauma."

"If that excuse goes then I can never be taken to court. Nothing I say can ever be given in evidence due to my constant trauma of having to put up with my sister trying to set me up with people she met on an online profile she made in my name." Stiles looked up, mouth gaped at Derek's confession. He was too stunned to even laugh at the hilarity of the confession because Derek hale just said those words! Derek just smirked, his eyes flashing red "Tell anyone I told you that and I'll rip your throat out. With my teeth."

Now Stiles did laugh at the memory, pleased at Derek's aparent ability to joke.

"Wow Sourwolf, who knew you had a sense of humour?"

"It comes and goes"

"Well then I guess I'll have to hang around and bug you more often. I'm starting to like funny Derek, much nicer than that other thug Derek"

Derek narrowed his eyes but there was no heat behind it "You just wait. I'll get you for that one"

"Oh please, I'm not afraid of you, you big furball"

"I'm not a cat" Derek states, sounding mildly offended "Don't call me furball"

"You got it Sourwolf" Derek rolled his eyes and Stiles tracked the movement, glimpsing his dad moving towards them. Stiles sat up straighter steeling himself for the news as his father made his way over to the ambulance. When the Sheriff got to where the two were talking his eyes flickered to Derek, his expression confused, before he turned to his son. 

"So, the house is salvageable. The guest room got most of the damage and needs to be completely redone. Your rooms going to need decorating as well as the hallways and the staircase, but the doors kept the fire out of most of the upstairs rooms. The living room needs completely redoing too, between fire damage and water damage most of the furniture is scrap and the dining room needs to be replastered nearest the hall but it's mostly okay. Surprisingly the kitchen wasn't touched at all which is weird seeing as that's where most fires start, but I guess that's why I'm a cop and not a freighter." Stlies took in the words, nodding before he asked "So, how long before we can move back in?" 

The Sheriff sighed and winced "It'll take a while for the repairs and the fire department still needs to look around upstairs to get proper look inside the rooms, which they can't do yet because they don't know know how stable the floors are in some, and then with the repairs the house should be liveable as soon as the living room and hallways are sorted as long as the guest room is stable. Honestly, this could take a long time and we can't be too sure until we get someone to have a look and asses the true extend of the damage. I only really know how bad the rooms are in relation to each other, not to health and safety standards. They can't get anyone to look at it until next week at least because of that mall fire in the next town over last week"

"Can't they get anyone sooner. I mean, Stiles is finishing school soon, he has finals, he needs stability right now" Stiles and the Sheriff look at Derek, shocked by his input, to see Derek looking sheepishly at the floor and scratching his neck "Sorry, I didnt mean to but in"

"Unfortunately they don't seem to care too much about finals, which is total crap if you ask me, I mean -" 

"Whoa, dad Derek calm down. They're trying to do their jobs, the mall is a bigger project and takes priority, I'll be perfectly fine with finals. Honestly, when have I ever worried about being stable?"

Neither man looked impressed which made Stiles suck in his lips in a bid not to laugh at their mirrored expressions.

"Moving on, as much as I hate it we either have to pull you out of school to stay with your aunt a couple towns over, which is totally not happening, or we're going to have to shack up in a motel until we find out what's going on. Depending on time, we might even have to find a temporary place to rent. The biggest problem is that we can't go in for any stuff until we get the all clear"

"Damn. Harris is going to kill me. My chemistry homework is in there"

"Really Stiles, you're worried about your homework?" The Sheriff stated "I don't known whether to be proud at your commitment to school or disappointed in your lack of priority. Homework is not the big issue here Stiles."

"You haven't had to sit through a class with Harris" Stiles retorted "Seriously though, which motel are we going to have to stay in?"

"The one just outside of town, It'll mean you'll have to leave a ltitle earlier for school but-"

"A little? that motel's like an hour from school with all the one-way streets in this town" 

"Stiles is right sir, it'd take long enough in any car but with Stiles's Jeep that'd mean leaving even earlier to account for any possible breakdowns" Derek was serious, but Stiles still found himself insulted by the jab against the Jeep. Derek ignored the defensive glare, worried about the effects this would have on Stiles; a member of his pack. The Sheriff was slightly weirded out by the Alpha's concern but had long learnt of Derek's need to care for his pack and tried to understand it as much as possible.

"It's not ideal, I know that, but we don't have much of a choice, we can't stay with Melissa, she doesn't have the room after taking in Isaac" The Sheriff's shoulders were sloping in defeat, he clearly wasn't happy about the situation but he was right, there wasn't much choice. Derek almost sighed resigned before he had an idea.

"Stay with me" Derek blurted the thought as it passed through his head. The two Stilinskis snapped their heads towards the werewolf confused "I mean it, it's closer to the school, it's closer to the station. I have plenty of room-"

"Derek we couldn't possibly-"

 

"Yes you can, honestly I think it's be a whole lot better than you being stuck in a motel an hour away from work school and friends." At the Sheriff's hesitation Derek added, " I know how it feels to be left with nowhere to go, I couldn't live with myself if I let you leave town knowing Stiles' education would suffer"

In that moment the Sheriff couldn't help but look past the gruff exterior and see Derek for the young boy who lost everything. When he'd first found out about Stioes hanging around Derek Hale he was obviously less than pleased about his son's affiliation with a murder suspect six years his senior, especially after finding said son loitering around a gay bar a few months later. Any father would be suspicious of his intentions. Surprisingly, the whole werewolf situation made him less suspicious of Derek. It did, however, still seem weird to him that Derek chose to spend his time with a group of high school teenagers but now the Sheriff thought he understood. Derek was just a teenager himself when his life was ripped away from him, his pack gone leaving him alone with his sister until she died too. The Sheriff figured Derek was, in his own way, trying to establish the feeling of pack he had grown up around and help these kids do the same. A part of the Sheriff had learned to admire that and looking at him now, he figured Derek Hale wasn't as bad as everybody thought.

"We'll have to think about it, Derek, but thank you for the offer"

With one last nod Derek turned and walked over to the pack, saying something briefly before walking away.


	2. Settling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Stilinskis move in and already both of them are beginning to learn more about Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very long but is kind of necessary in allowing me to move on without being too Skippy so kind of just a filler, but yay we learn things.

It only took one night in the motel for the Sheriff to agree to Derek's offer. The journey that day proved to be too much for either of the Stilinskis to handle every day and Stiles' complaining was definitely too much for John.

"Fine, call Derek and ask nicely if his offer is still open" The man sighed in defeat, cutting off his son me rant. Stiles narrowed his eyes at the stress which was put onto the phrase 'ask nicely' before he scoffed and held up his phone. 

"I already texted him an hour ago, he said its fine" at his father's aggravated look Stiles shrugged "what? I knew you'd give in eventually, it was inevitable"

"Yeah well just remember that staying there means you're past the point of being a guest, I don't want to see you taking advantage of Derek's hospitality"

"Huh, there's two words I never thought I'd hear in the same sentence; same conversation actually"

With one last disapproving look at the teen John turned to put his one unpacked shirt back into his case, finding himself questioning -not for the first time- where Stiles gets his personality.

An hour later found Stiles standing outside Derek's apartment door, looking around bewildered at the hallway lined with identical doors all equally as respectful as Derek's. Stiles just couldn't wrap his head around the idea of Derek living in a place so put together. It's a great deal better than exactly one hundred percent of the places Derek has slept since Stiles had known him and Stiles couldn't help but feel out of place visiting Derek in such a populated space.

Distracted with his thoughts Stiles jumped as the door suddenly opened in front of him.

"Were you planning to knock or were you just going to move in out here?"

"No, I was uh just waiting for my dad to finish finding an 'acceptable' parking spot for the cruiser and get up here" Stiles partially told the truth.

Derek nodded and stepped aside to let Stiles in with his bags "Good, I don't think the neighbours would appreciate your living habits."

Before Stiles could reply to his jibe Derek turned and gestured for Stiles to place his things in the living room "I see you got some of your stuff back" the older man mentioned, swiftly diverting Stiles' attention.

"Yeah, one of the guys at the BHFD owed my dad a favour so he agreed to go in and get some stuff for us to last until they let us in for more"

Derek nodded in understanding and Stiles was reminded once again that Derek probably knew from experience what he was talking about. The Hale fire was huge and had been just about collapsing by the time the fire was out, Stiles was willing to bet the remaining family members had to sneak back in to get their stuff, there was no way the were allowed in until at least two weeks after the fire and even then it would only be at the insistence of the last Hales themselves.  
As the awkward tension grew outside of Stiles thoughts, Derek was relieved when a knock came from the front door.

"I'll uh let your dad in, you can call for take out or something if you guys haven't eaten" Stiles nodded at the implied question, confirming that t hey hadn't eaten yet. Derek continued as he walked to the door and opened it "there are some menus on the counter that Erica brought, the address is on a post it on the fridge if you don't know it"

Stiles nodded and entered the kitchen as Derek turned his attention to the older Stilinski. "Hey, Sheriff. need any help?" Despite the question Derek didn't wait for a reply before taking the largest bag from the older man, receiving a grunted 'thanks' as the Sheriff began flexing out his fingers. "I see Stiles has made himself at home" the Sheriff rolled his eyes looking across the open plan living area to the large kitchen where Stiles sat on the island with his phone to his ear and what Derek noticed to be a pizza menu in his hands "Not like bags need to be carried".

With a small smirk Derek turned back to the boy's father "You act like you expected differently" Derek's raised eyebrows did well in expressing the incredulity in that statement and the Sheriff clearly noticed he sighed "A father can hope. Just like I still hope that whatever he's ordering will include red meat and end in happiness for me".

Derek smiled a bit in amusement at the Sheriff's words before stating "He's ordering pizza, two all meat and garlic bread and ribs as sides"

The Sheriff's eyes widened "It's a miracle. I bet he's trying to butter me up because ue persisted and got his own way"

"Sounds like Stiles" the werewolf agreed. With that the teen came over after hanging up the phone, grinning as he demanded "Guess what's for dinner".

When the alpha relayed the eexact order Stiles' grin dropped, eyes narrowing as he grumbled "Darn werewolves eavesdropping all the time" to which Derek shot back that it's his kitchen so it could hardly be called eavesdropping.

"Why did I want to stay here again?" Stiles questioned himself as he stalked away from the two men who were still standing just inside the apartment at the edge of the living area.   
With the conversation clearly over both men rolled their eyes at the teenager and Derek reached for the bags.

"So Sheriff I was thinking I'll show you around before the food gets here so you two can pick rooms and get settled in a bit"

"That would be great Derek, and by the way son you're letting me live at your place I think it's only fair you call me John, stop with the 'Sheriff'" 

It wasn't until Derek was showing them around that Stiles could fully take in the size of the place. The living room and kitchen were large and open plan, the kitchen having been sectioned off with the wrap around counter, there were few cupboards however a small area behind the kitchen led to a walk in pantry around the size of a closet. The fridge and freezer we're both built into the dark glossy design of the kitchen countersand the whole area itself was decorated with stainless steel cooking equipment that contrasted the sleek white flooring. The living room contained a large black leather corner couch and a matching loveseat with four leather beanbags scattered around the thick black rug that covered the squared off space between the couches and the are containing the tv and sat on top of cream carpeting that covered the entire lover floor. Also on the first floor were two bedrooms, simply decorated, and a single bathroom. Off to the side of the living room was an open staircase leading to the floor above, the whole of which was visible from below giving a clear view of the living room from the balcony. On the second floor Derek showed them another bathroom complete with a large bath and power shower as well as showing the two other bedrooms, each containing a small balcony, before pointing out the master bedroom where Derek slept. Stiles was surprised at the size and clear extravagance of the large apartments, however most shocking was the large balcony on the second floor containing a fairly large pool for an apartment and a hot tub, as well as being scattered with deck chairs.

"Dude, I knew you were rich, but I did not know there were places like this in Beacon Hills. Seriously this place belongs on a private beach. This is better than Jackson's old house."

"There weren't. This is actually almost the same layout as my families old beach house, it was Cora's idea to build it. The other apartments aren't the same though, Beacon hills is sunny but there's not really a market for places like this so they're a lot smaller and more low key, they're all one floor and are either two or three rooms each. Peter lives down the hall with Malia and Cora, and when Laura finishes her graduate degree she's coming back here to live across the hall with her fiancee and daughter." 

Stiles and the Sheriff both stood stunned as they processed this new information. Stiles knew Derek had sisters and had met Cora a few times but had never really imagined Derek being close to them, before now he'd just assumed that he'd closed himself off after the fire seeing the way he acts with Peter. Learning that Derek had bought an apartment complex and was planning to move his family in shocked Stiles, something which Derek noticed as he's quickly changed the subject and walked back downstairs with the others following, he was clearly uncomfortable with the stunned silence and so neither Stiles of the Sheriff brought up Derek's building project again.

That night the three of them ate pizza in front of the tv, John was perfectly content with his pizza whilst Stiles held back his disapproval of his father eating so much of the unhealthy food on account of him having ordered it. It was a little awkward but that was to be expected, Derek was used to living alone and the Stilinskis were in unfamiliar territory but it wasn't necessarily uncomfortable for with either of them as they watched movies.

The Sheriff had an early morning shift and so was the first to turn in, choosing to take a bedroom downstairs so as not to disturb the werewolf with his irregular hours, insisting when Derek assured him that it wasn't necessary (he may also have planned it so as to make use of having the downstairs bathroom to himself rather than sharing). 

Despite having school the next morning Stiles stayed up just as late as Derek, only begrudgingly going to bed when the werewolf reminded him that the apartment building was lightly further from the school and in a different direction, in a part of town that Stiles was not necessarily used to and so meant that he would have to be up early to ensure he found his way to school on time. After taking care of his nightly routine Stiles entered his room, next to Derek's, just as the man brought up Stiles' bags after checking all the doors and windows were locked.

"Thanks" Stiles said tiredly reaching into the bag to grab his pillow from the top and adding it to the ones already on top of the double bed. Derek raised his eyebrows at the action but didn't say anything as Stiles shot him a lazy smile. 

"Night" Derek replied, watching the worn out teen stumble around the room organising things he needed to sleep, like a bird creating a nest, before Stiles looked over his shoulder at him saying "G'night". 

With that Derek left the room, closing the door and making his way to his own bed, certain that if nothing else having the Stilinskis around would definitely make things interesting.


End file.
